Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-09-08
PRODUCING THE BEST.

PRODUCING THE BEST.
What Would Follow II Farmers Followed
All the Advice Gwen Them.
A few years ago a gentleman in Wis
consin who was familiar with the dairy
business showed that the farmers in
one county lost about $500. 900 in q
single season by making inferior in-
stead Of very choice butter. He madc
his showing by ascertaining how many
pounds of butter they made, and COM
pairing the amount it sold for with
what would have been realized for it
had it all been sold for fifty cents per
pound. which was received for few
choice lots made by parties who kept
Jersey cows, had excellent facilities
for keeping milk. were expert butter
makers. and had city customers who
were able and willing to pay fancy
prices for a very superior article. A
somewhat similar showing was made
about the same time in relation to the
cheese made in one county in New
York. The reports of several market
towns were quoted to show that much
of the cheese made during the season
sold for seven cents per pound. while
some choice foreign cheese had been
sold for forty cents, and some fall
cream cheese, favored to sage, had
been disposed of for twenty-five cents
per pound.
Occasionally livestock journal
makes sensation showing us how
much farmers lose bv keeping inferior
cattle. 1t gives the prices realized for
a carload of fancy beeves. all pure
blood or high-grade animals. pastured
on blue grass and fattened on corn
meal. and compares them with the
sums received for scrubs" kept on q
range. ranch. or a prairie farm that
has never been improved. and which
have never had any grain to eat.
Fruit-raisers often refer to the fact
that some baskets of peaches will
readily sell for 81, while others are
difficult to dispose of for 30 cents; that
choice spring lamb is often sold in our
large cities for so cents per pound is
certain. Extra fine chickens ready for
the broiling-iron by the LIST of July
have also been sold for IS cents per
pound. The late DR.. Hull. of Alton,
sold Washington plums in this market
for 81 per dozen. He sold some pears
and apricots at the same price. Black
Hamburg grapes have been sold at 81
q pound during the same season that
Concords found a slow sale at one
twentieth of that sum.
We are not justified. however. in
drawing the conclusion that by raising
the quality of all the articles produced
on farms such prices could be realized
for them. There are rich epicures that
will pay almost any price for vege-
tables produced far III advance of the
season. for fruits of large size and sur
passing excellence. for meats that will
melt in the mouth" for cream cheese
and for fresh butter made In winter
from the milk of Jersey cows. The
number of these persons. however, is
very small. If all the products of the
farm and garden were improved in
quality till they deserved to rank
among delicacies the present prices for
these articles could not be realized.
Comparatively few people can afford
to buy luxuries at the prices they now
h,,f Cnd ohnaco
could be obtained for less than fifty
cents per pound most people would be
compelled by stern necessity to find
substitutes for them. The like would
be true in relation to beef, lamb, fruit,
and vegetables of all kinds.
1t is likely that the demand for lux
uries. even at the prices now demand
ed for them. will increase as wealth
accumulates in the country. But it is
nonsense to talk about selling all the
products of the farm and garden at the
prices a few very rich men can pay
for what they use on their tables. The
quality of them may be raised to an
ideal standard, but the purchasers of
them at fancy prices will be few.
There will always be purchasers of
at fifty cents per box. but
the sales of this most delicious fruit are
never very large when the price is
much above one-tifth of that sum. The |
like is true in relation to vegetables |
raised in hot-beds, grapes ripened un-
der glass. and spring lamb and green
peas in condition to be cooked in the
month of May. The great mass of hui
manity. even in a prosperous country |
like this. must be content with fruit Of |
only medium quality. and which can |
be obtained at corresponding price.
If there were no scrub cattle in the /
country to furnish cheap meat, most
of our people would be obliged to get
along without it, as the inhabitants Of
many European countries do.-Chi-
cago Times.
The volcanoes Popocatepetl and
[xtaccihutl. says Mexican exchange.
a GRAND eDoctac1o On clony